Poland 2011. I’d had this colorful skirt for at least a year before I left for Europe, but I’d never worn it because it seemed too daring. But suddenly it matched all of my shirts and it was super easy to fit in a suitcase. Instant hit!

The magical duffel was able to accommodate all of this plus some!

a huge face…

Das Museum

THE KING

3 castles along the Elbe

One completed bundle

You can kind of tell that these girls were pulling little sailboats in the Bächler…

A better view of the cathedral. Maybe you can see the coloring that betrays the war damage?

Come to think of it, this is kind of a winner of everyone. Kyle, if you happen to read this, please accept my heartfelt apologies.

The view FROM the Spanish Steps… I knew, I decided to shake it up a bit. Check out those beautiful flowers and the huge crowd! Love it

Here’s a view from Marienplatz!

The scarves, when folded into squares the size of the bundles, didn’t add much bulk to the stack

The cathedral in Freiburg was easily the biggest church I’ve ever seen… crazy.

Got ’em!

I was convinced that this was the Pantheon, but that is completely and totally incorrect. How embarrassing, hopefully Plan II will take me back in August

I couldn’t find a picture that accurately showed the amazing communities that support me on a daily basis, but this one of me, John, and Mike emphasizes how HAPPY my friends make me!

a dragon…

Probably hard to see because of the lighting… sorry. Aren’t the different architecture styles interesting? The middle building is part of the Schloss (castle) and the Catholic Church is on the right.

The Frauen Kirche: The dark stones are the original, prewar stones. The light ones are new.

I wish I had a better picture to substantiate my claim. Any Pennsylvanians want to weigh in?? The houses really do look strikingly similar!

And this girl! We met at a Covenant Mass, a few days later bought John Mayer tickets together out of convenience more than anything else, six months later went to work at the Pines together, and in 5 months we’ll be roommates!

A pear tree; because it was pretty

Check out all those sistas!

Procession after mass at St. Paul’s Basilica, my favorite of the churches we saw

In these images, Mary is surrounded by the apostles and Christ is generally seen in the heavens, accompanied by a child representing Mary’s soul.

Study abroad, past and present

The Blessed Mother, my LG’s Pilgrim MTA, and some Lourdes water from Daniel :)